2024 Guide to Starting an Online Business
Launching an online business has never been easier. You can do it without big upfront funding and there’s no need for serious tech skills. With the flexibility to set your own schedule and call all the shots, this is an opportunity to be your own boss. With just a little clever strategy it’s possible to reach a huge audience right from the get-go. Whether you’re looking for a gentle income stream on the side — or dreaming of a worldwide e-commerce empire — anything’s possible. With that, here’s our guide to starting an online business in 2024. Why start an online business in 2024? | Come up with your business idea | Choose your business model | What type of entrepreneur are you? | Conduct market research | Write the business plan | Get the funding | Register your business | Manage your accounts | Buy the domain name | Choose your online platform | Set up shop | Start taking payments | Build your online presence Why start an online business in 2024? Building an online business is a great chance to do something rewarding — in more ways than one. To start with the obvious, the entry barrier is often very low. Online ventures tend to come with minimal start-up costs, compared to a bricks-and-mortar business, saving money on rent, utilities, and other associated start-up expenses. It’s a way to get a foot in the business door without reaching deep into your wallet. For those who do already have a physical shop, going online offers a great way to increase revenue and expand, reaching new avenues and wider audiences. You have the flexibility. As the customer base grows, you can expand operations without the constraints of physical space. You have the power to map your online business to fit exactly what you need. Whether you’re starting small with a niche product or dreaming big with a diverse range, you can up the size and complexity as you go along. You needn’t be a tech wizard. With so many user-friendly platforms and handy tools out there, it’s possible to set up shop with only limited tech skills. Good website builders provide templates that make it utterly easy to launch a professional-looking website in minutes — then manage stock and update pages daily. If you’d prefer instant access to customers, you might try the existing marketplaces of Etsy, eBay, and others. And there’s never been a better time to start. In fact, the UK now boasts the world’s third largest e-commerce market in the world after China and the US. Online sales account for more than a third of the total retail market in the UK, in spite of what’s going on with the economy. Online sales even increased by 36% last year. By 2025, the total domestic revenue from e-commerce is predicted to be worth £230 billion. So, if you’ve got something to share with the world, 2024 is the time to make your mark. Finally, did we mention you can do it all from home in your pyjamas? Come up with that business idea So you’ve decided to start an online business. Exciting! The first step is to define your business idea. It’s about turning that spark of inspiration into a clear, actionable concept. There are several key things to think about — to guide your thought process and to help shape this vision into something tangible and viable. First, consider the scale and commitment of the business venture. Are you looking to start a side-gig to complement your lifestyle and income, or are you aiming for a full-time enterprise that’ll become a primary focus? Think about the core of your business: the product or service you want to offer. This is where your passion meets market demand. Is there a specific product or service you are passionate about or have expertise in? Define the niche. Pinpoint a specific market segment and, instead of trying to serve everyone, focus on a particular group with shared interests. Tailor your products or services to meet their preferences. This approach helps your business stand out and builds stronger connections with loyal customers. Identify your passions and market gaps to find your niche effectively. How well does the business idea align with your skills and experience? Will you need additional training or partnerships? A business idea that fits your strengths and areas of expertise is more likely to take off. Choose your business model There are four primary business models in e-commerce lingo. Those are: Business-to-Business (B2B), when a businesses sell products or services to other businesses. When it comes to wholesale, a B2B might act as intermediary in a supply chain, purchasing goods in bulk from manufacturers and selling them to retailers or other businesses. Business-to-Consumer (B2C), where a businesses sells direct to consumers. This is the biggest e-commerce business model there is — whenever we make an online purchase as an individual customer, we’re engaged in the B2C model. Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C), when consumers sell goods or services to each other through an intermediary platform. Casual and occasional selling on eBay or Facebook Marketplace would fall into this category. Consumer-to-Business (C2B), when consumers provide services to businesses. Switching around the B2C idea, this one is a bit oddly named, as it typically refers to freelancers selling to businesses. For example, getting paid to upload photography to Shutterstock. Decide: What type of entrepreneur are you? Think about what you love and what you’re good at to find a business model that fits. Understanding the dynamics can help you position your business and work out your opportunities. Whether you decide to go wholesale and manage stock yourself, or to “dropship” orders straight from supplier to customer, the choice should reflect your strengths and market positioning. Think about your Value Delivery Method. That’s a posh way of asking how you’ll meet the needs of consumers. This choice goes beyond logistics; it shapes the entire approach to bringing value. Each type of business has its unique set of
6 trends in e-commerce you need to know
The world of retail is in its biggest transition since the adopting of the barcode scanner over hand-held pricing guns. Even small corner shops are now more likely to use the former, although there will always be a handful of retailers who hold on firmly to tradition. The current transition, the consumer move from physical shopping to virtual shopping, has been underway for a few years now but the mass-growth is now well and truly upon us. E-commerce is no longer a word used by only certain demographics, it is a term understood by 99% of the population. Yet, where e-commerce goes next, is the question thousands of retailers are asking, here are some of our predictions: 1. E-commerce dependance will continue to rise The mass-market for e-commerce is already here, but the economic climate and reluctance for businesses to invest in expensive overheads such as retail space and customer-facing staff, means e-commerce will continue to grow and be more attractive to businesses both new and old. That’s not to say E-commerce should be seen as just a cheap option. Investing in back-end infrastructure and a pleasing customer journey is essential and cutting corners and costs on that invariably also means cutting customers. 2. Seasonal trends will still be applicable While leaving your Christmas shopping until Christmas Eve is probably soon to be assigned to history (although we know there are some online retailers that offer this and the printable / emailable voucher has never been as popular), shopping at Christmas is still going to present a potential bumper windfall for online retailers. In addition, the tradition of the January sale lives on long and strong online so if you are running an ecommerce site, consider December and January a pretty much no go area for personal holiday. 3. Buying social will increase The recommendation of a friend or trusted colleague can have a massive impact on whether you buy or don’t buy. The big retailers have long known this and the push post checkout of many retailers to “share your purchase” via your social networks is almost second nature to most of us buying online nowadays. That will only increase as will the number using the high street more as as browsing tool than a shop. Think Argos catalogue of the past, that could soon become the way we treat the physical shopping world, perhaps not even ever buying presents either, but sharing them over the internet (see Web 3.0) 4. The development of personal verification With social networking sites now dominating the way we login to control panels and accounts across the web, the single login system while secure in principle is potentially open to abuse if you stay logged in for example on a publicly located computer. Many systems with automated payment logins and processes would therefore allow a ‘hacked’ account to be used to rack up £s of orders without extra security checks. Already to market Jumio’s NetSwipe hasn’t quite captured the imagination as many had expected, but we think it won’t be too long before banks – and consumers – are insisting on this or similar technology to combat web fraud. 5. Flash sales will drive traffic In the real world retailers call these “fire sales” and you see the High Streets littered with ‘Closing Down’ and ‘ All stock must go’ almost everywhere you go nowadays. That trend is set to move onto the internet. Already, the growth of social shopping sites like GroupOn and LivingSocial have relied heavily on the same mentality to drop prices to all-time lows and drive sales and hopefully traffic back to the retailer sites. Now as brands become more powerful and influential themselves via social media, so they will be looking to use similar tactics to drive traffic to their site alone. 6. Online loyalty programs kick in The success of large scale affiliates offering money-back to customers for click-through purchases such as QuidCo and TopCashback makes it clear that loyalty to brands extends online – especially if there is a financial incentive. Expect this to be become more polished and more targeted by the big names in the next few months. Already the big high street names such as Nectar are evident if not overtly active online, but brands are aware of the importance of customer loyalty and will be exploiting that more and more in tighter economic times.
Ecommerce still growing
This month’s figures from the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index reveal that online shopping just gets stronger and stronger. £5.3 billion was spent online during May according to the report which is a year-on-year increase of 18% and up 2% on an already impressive April. However, with economic times pinching it appears big money purchases, which helped fuel the original trend for online buying, are not doing as well as so called ‘low-ticket’ items sales of which are booming. As people’s social trends change due to economic pressures so different sectors seem to be benefiting from online sales. Stay at home entertainment is growing with the alcohol sector growing to an average order reaching £161, which is up a massive 25% on May 2010. Staying-in every night also makes people want to make the most of when they do leave the house so it is no surprise then to find the average travel spend online soaring to £869 a year. To date, £25.7 billion has been spent online during 2011. That is in stark contrast to figures released by the British Retail Consortium earlier this month, which showed that, despite a surge for the Royal Wedding and Easter holidays, high street sales were down 0.3% year-on-year and down 2.1% on April 2011. Are you spending more online? Are you selling online? Our Eshop range offers everything you need to be selling online via a professional looking shop with a few clicks and our InstantSite Pro and SiteFusion offerings have ecommerce functionality that is simple to set up too.
Have web designers been replaced?
In years gone by to get a website on the internet there was only two ways. You could code and produce the website yourself or hire a web designer to produce your website. This means you either needed to be a technical whiz or you would be slapped with a hefty fee from a web designer. Now there is a growing trend within the webhosting industry where companies offer software to produce a website without the need for a web designer or any programming skills. It enables anyone to create their own website whatever their skill level. But is this claim too good to be true? Is it really that simple and more importantly are the results up to scratch? It’s true that these web builder applications make it simple to create a website, even guiding you through the process with easy steps but a basic knowledge of computing is required. If you feel comfortable using programs such as MS word then the process will be very easy and will feel natural to you. With these programs simplicity is the key that unlocks the full potential of your creation and makes the process a doddle. Have a look at our own InstantSite, Sitefusion and eshop packages to see how easy it can be. Some of these programs are limited in their functionality but are still able to create simple but effective web presences. Others include advanced functions that allow you to produce feature rich websites and make the process of adding video, photo albums, editing html and even adding ecommerce functionality easy. The simple fact is that if you are not skilled in web design creating a website by yourself is possible with this software but how does the quality compare with a professionally produced website? Quite obviously if a professional web designer is creating your website it will be of a high standard and will be customised to your needs so software that enables you to produce a site yourself has a lot to compete with. The creators of this software understand this and have professionally produced a huge number of customisable website templates; this gives your created website that professional look and feel. The important thing to remember is you get what you pay for, if you hire a web designer you will pay through the nose for a professional customised website. The standard will drop if you do it yourself but the cost will be much less and you have the freedom to make changes whenever you want without having to wait for your web designer to do it or charge you more money for the pleasure. These programs put you in the driving seat and allow you to take back control of your website, no matter what your technical skills these tools offer a distinct advantage and it has to be said they give you a sense of pride when you see the results. So back to the original question, have web designers been replaced? I believe this software removes the need for web designers for people that want a basic website. If you want a personal website or a corporate site that shows your pictures and information then there is no need to spend out on an expensive web designer when you can do a professional job yourself for a fraction of the cost. However I do not believe web designers have been replaced entirely but instead their role has shifted to the higher end websites and instead of seeing this as negative for web designers I believe it makes them up their game and get better at what they do. If you want custom graphics, dynamic website elements, full ecommerce basket integration or a website that stands out from the crowd it is clearly worthwhile to invest in a web designer to create your website. For the moment the technology is not quite there to enable you do everything yourself, but web designers beware it is getting there. Do you think web designers will ever be replaced?